Institut Polaire
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Institut Polaire

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | INDIE

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | INDIE
Band Alternative Pop

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"Western Australian Music Industry (7" single review)"

Institut Polaire's offering "City Walls & Empires" certainly bridges that gap between retro and now. The Institut has a slightly less polished approach to production that adds immediacy to their jaunty and edgy pop, with the sounds of horns and strings broadening the mix naturally rather than a wash of psychedelic post-effects. Crisp and simple guitar hooks pull the listeners throughout the verses to a catchy bridge and chorus combo that is full of promise for Institut Polaire's debut recorded offering. - www.wam.asn.au


"In The Pines Festival (Live Review)"

At the business end of the night Institut Polaire could do no wrong. The word ‘texture’ gets throw around a lot, but it’s as appropriate as ever when you’re talking about Institut Polaire. Promising a new EP later in the year, their smooth, sophisticated pop came to life with strings, trumpet and some well-thought guitar arrangements. - www.fasterlouder.com.au


"In The Pines Festival (Live Review)"

Institut Polaire are probably the most hyped band around Perth at the moment since their WAMi Song of the Year win and rotation on Triple J. Their off-the-wall take on a pop song proved again that this band is destined for bigger things. - www.perthbands.com


"Wireless Bollinger (Debut EP Review)"

Institut Polaire’s is the EP of the month by a long shot. The Fauna and the Flora is terrifically vast piece. Driven by the clean vocal talent of Erik Hecht, the band weave their heavy instrumentation creating a lush, unique country vibe. Brilliantly produced by Rob Grant, the horns and violin bring texture and life, and the vocal harmonies add a splash of gracefulness to the scene. ‘The Flora and The Fauna are Too Closely Allied’ is the long-titled centrepiece for the EP, violin and trumpet offset each other gorgeously as Hecht sings the potent line, “I think I’m probably too young/To be ticking off my days.” Perhaps a tad depressing in terms of lyric content, Institut Polaire nevertheless sound like they’re having an utter ball. ‘East, West & I’ is another country ballad chock-full of harmonies and Johnny Greenwood-esque guitar licks. ‘Lullaby for a Warmonger’ should be, in all respects, the EP’s low-point. The ‘Everybody Hurts’ guitar, the cringingly pretentious sampled quote (“Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest”), the cheesy harp, on paper, suggesting pretty lameness. In actual fact it’s nothing short of stunning, and far more graceful a political diatribe than Dan Kelly’s “cock-sucker, motherfucker” rant. Without going to nauseating extremes, The Fauna and the Flora is an indulgence, as Institut Polaire successfully balance their orchestral bent with their down-to-earth influences. - www.wirelessbollinger.com


"Time Off Magazine (Debut EP Review)"

It’s with heartfelt gusto that this Perth collective bursts from the blocks, this debut EP holding more within its modest five tracks than most bands grasp over albums. With more members than you can fit into most lounge rooms, The Fauna And The Flora encompasses out from its cute pop heart a backwoods country twang, sweeping epic melancholy, jumped-up mod and an overall intoxicating jangle that’s all but impossible to fall for. - www.timeoff.com.au


"Drum Media Single of the Week (Debut EP Review"

After growing from a three piece to an eight piece, winning WAM Song of the Year, being Unearthed by JJJ, scoring a deal with boutique Sydney label Popfrenzy and being named Perth's next big thing for almost their entire existence, Institut Polaire have finally delivered their long promised debut EP. Songwriter Erik Hecht has constructed five glorious pop songs that build from simple ideas to lush, layered affairs complete with horns and strings. He never lets the layers destroy the original intent of the song though, and even with their painstakingly constructed intricacies each track's beauty lies in it's core ideas. Worth the wait. - Drum Media Perth


"Big Day Out Festival (Live Review)"

And so it was, the 14th Big Day Out in Perth. Triple J Unearthed contest winners Institut Polaire opened the day to a very healthy and rather impressed early crowd. The band packed the stage physically, and their sound was similarly choc-full of interesting elements. There's no doubt that honcho Erik Hecht has a knack for a tune. Their alt-folk sound was going down very well as a warm up for the day, and there is little doubt that the band won themselves a few new fans that day. - Xpress Magazine


"Beck's Verandah (Live Review)"

Institut Polaire and their freshest smiles decorated Beck’s Verandah after Camera Obscura had played, left with an easy task of continuing the shiny happiness, as if the Human Torch had been put in charge of a statewide bushfire. Spread out like sentries over the stage, poised for their unequivocally momentous parts, each member had the staid expression – the ease of playing that manifested in band skins that everyone wore seamlessly – of a group at the end of a tour, which they are.

And so, they busted out a typically picturesque Institut Polaire wall of melodious noise, which meant for the remaining throng heartbeat pulses of crisp pop, psych, tonk and folk. Somewhere around the violinist, trumpeter and guest trombonist there’s a hook that maybe wouldn’t feel alien being played by a piano accordion, while singer Erik Hecht notes, “I sat down with myself and I walked through my mi-i-ind” and the brass drapes everything in a golden glaze. While still new and only on the verge of their first release, with their greatest leaps ahead of them, Institut Polaire already have the capacity for grandiose, magnanimous pop.

by Matt Giles - www.messandnoise.com


"Rockus Online Magazine (Single Review)"

It’s always hard to review one track single samplers, especially if you like what you hear and want to hear more! “City Walls and Empires” is a jaunty and radio friendly ditty, the 9 members of the band creating a complex interweaving of melodies and counter melodies, complete with a rousing unison of vocals in the chorus. Radio friendly, upbeat, a good tune, what more could you want from a single?

Review by Chris Chinchilla


- www.rockus.com.au


"Rave Magazine Single of the Week (Debut EP Review"

Not to judge a CD by its cover might be an adage stuck in the primitive pre-download and burn days, but to those music fans who still enjoy forking out money for a tangible package, take special heed in the case of Perth’s Institut Polaire. Their name might sound cold, and as the EP’s foreboding coat of arms cover gives nothing else away, initial impressions may be of an inaccessible post-something group who take themselves too seriously. But adages were invented for a reason. Within seconds of starting the first of the EP’s five songs, Kentucky Society Drought, a lazy Americana tune similar to The Lemonheads’ The Outdoor Type, it will have grabbed your hopes and attention, and by the second track The Fauna & The Flora Are Too Closely Allied, Institut Polaire will have sunk their eighty fingers into your heart. Broadly close to the sound of The Decemberists, with maybe a bit of Augie March, Institut Polaire are the brightest light to shine out of the hazy Perth constellation of rising stars for some time. - www.ravemagazine.com.au


Discography

"The Fauna and the Flora" EP (Popfrenzy Records 2007)

"City Walls and Empires" - split 7" single (Love Is My Velocity Records 2006)

Photos

Bio

Since the EP “The Fauna and The Flora” the band have been busy, not only recording a brilliant debut album, the band moved interstate from their Perth homes and are now residing in Melbourne, where they hit the ground running with shows and recording.

Within the move they lost drummer Russell who stayed in Perth who has been replaced by Toby Lang on drums (formerly of The Audreys and Veruca Salt). Also, they have re-joined forces with founding member Ash Blakeney who left IP to move to Melbourne in 2005. He’s now returned as lead guitarist after Ben Blakeney left to focus on his own projects. The divine Cath Colvin (violin) has also moved on for she has just given birth to her first child! The changes have been positive for all and these members contributed to the debut album before departing.

The collective have previously shared the stage with acclaimed artists such as Camera Obscura, The Clientele, Architecture in Helsinki, Jens Lekman, Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr., Love of Diagrams, New Buffalo, Gerling, Bob Evans, Starky, The Panics and The Lucksmiths.

While Institut Polaire may have been short on releases thus far, they haven’t been short on accolades- taking out the prestigious WAM Song of the Year Prize in 2006 for the single “City Walls & Empires”, and receiving generous airplay nationwide. They were also winners of Triple j's Western Australia's Unearthed winners in early 2007.

Institut Polaire released their debut EP "The Fauna And The Flora" on October 2, 2007 to rave national reviews including Single of the Week honours from both Drum Media and Rave street press. They have been added to rotation for (a rare) two tracks on Triple J and garnered wide airplay on community stations around the country. The release was accompanied by an ambitious video for “City Walls & Empires” filmed at Carriageworks Arts Complex in Sydney.

Their debut album 'Make Your Own Mayflower' is due for release on the 9th October, 2010 through Popfrenzy Records.